Laura Joszt, MA

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have not had a significant impact on cancer care costs and utilization. While cancer care costs did decline from before the introduction of ACOs to after, there was no significant difference in spending decreases between ACO practices and non-ACO practices caring for patients with cancer.

Practices in the US Oncology Network received an average positive payment adjustment under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) of 1.90% for performance in 2017, and 99% of the Network’s physicians were in the top tier of performers. The maximum allowable adjustment is 2.02%. The adjustment based on a clinician’s performance in 2017 impacts the clinician's Medicare reimbursement for 2019.

Although patients have the right of access to their protected health information, actual access remains limited. A new study, published in JAMA Network Open, has found that the processing of requesting medical records remains burdensome despite policy efforts.

Tisagenlecleucel's high price is aligned with the benefit the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy provides over a patient's life. Approximately 40% of patients treated are expected to be long-term survivors.

During the opening plenary and panel at the fall 2018 meeting of the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS), Adam Boehler, of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, highlighted the fact that CMS has to provide predictability and simplicity to get more accountable care organizations to take on risk and succeed, but that those who are not "cutting it" should "get out of the way" for others.

The type of cancer a provider treats can determine how well he or she performs under the Oncology Care Model (OCM), according to research from Avalere Health that was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Care Symposium.

A once-weekly dose of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in combination with dexamethasone has been approved to treat patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma. The approved regimen improved progression-free survival and had a better overall response rate than a twice-weekly regimen.

A test that uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been approved to detect and monitor minimal residual disease in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Antibiotic treatment may be a feasible alternative to surgery for uncomplicated acute appendicitis, according to findings from a 5-year observational follow-up study that compared appendectomy with antibiotic treatment.

Not only do physician-group accountable care organizations (ACOs) save Medicare more money than hospital-integrated ACOs, but the savings of physician ACOs grew substantially over 3 years.

Implicit biases may be unconsciously formed, but they can have real impacts for patients in the healthcare system if physicians or other healthcare providers don’t take the time to recognize their own implicit biases.

With cancer costs rising and patients with cancer disproportionately facing financial toxicity, alternative payment and care delivery models are thought to help alleviate some of the cost burden. However, a review finds limited evidence available to evaluate the efficacy of alternative payment and care models in cancer care.

Cancer-regenerating cells that arise after chemotherapy have been identified as a new type of cancerous cell that is responsible for the return of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after remission.

A majority of US physicians have a pessimistic view about the future of medicine, believe value-based payments won't improve quality of care or reduce costs, and treat patients with social conditions that impact their health.

A new report contradicts CMS’ claim that the Medicare Shared Savings Program increased Medicare spending by $344 million from 2013 to 2015. The new analysis finds that accountable care organizations (ACOs) actually reduced federal spending by $542 million after accounting for shared savings payments earned.

Children of Hispanic ethnicity have a higher risk of developing neurotoxicity when they are treated with methotrexate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) compared with non-Hispanic white children.

Research has shown nonemergency medical transportation can be essential for patients in rural areas, as well as the poor, elderly, and chronically ill. In a Health Affairs blog post, authors from CareMore Health show how the company has found success with Lyft after a pilot program it ran in 2016.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found that preventing a mutated protein from leaving the nucleus and traveling to the cytoplasm of the cell can help inhibit the growth of leukemic cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

An early review of the second performance period of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) seems to show improvements over the first period.

A new payment model bridges services in the clinical setting and the community to improve outcomes for patients with substance use disorder.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan or other creditable prescription drug coverage have better survival than patients without prescription drug coverage. According to a study in Journal of Clinical Oncology, this improved survival seemed to be a result of patients having access to all treatment options.

Access to care is not enough to improve care and prevent deaths; expansion of health coverage has to be paired with investments to create high-quality health systems, according to a study in The Lancet.

Airports provide multiple sites of risk to contract respiratory viruses, with plastic security screening trays posing the highest potential risk, according to new research published in BMC Infectious Diseases.

There has been little progress in improving levels of physical activity worldwide, according to new research from the World Health Organization. Here are 5 findings about physical activity and health, worldwide.

HHS is seeking comments on potentially expanding safe harbors under the antikickback statute of the Stark Law in order to better promote care coordination and value-based arrangements.

Amgen has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA to expand the prescribing information of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

A new long-acting treatment for hemophilia A has been approved for previously treated patients, aged 12 years and older. Bayer’s Jivi was also approved for on-demand treatment and the perioperative management of bleeding in the same population.

As the healthcare system considers alternative payment models that reward high-value care delivery, programs that utilize lay health workers (LHW) may be valuable. A study in JAMA Oncology analyzed whether an LHW program can increase the documentation of patients’ care preferences.

New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute has found that although there was some erosion in health insurance offered by employers after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of private-sector employers offering health benefits increased in 2017 for the first time since 2008.

A survey of patients in the United Kingdom who were diagnosed with cancer found that patients with blood cancers were the least likely to say they completely understood what was wrong when the doctor explained it. They were also less likely to say that their treatment options were explained before treatment started compared with patients with other cancers.